


A New Chapter

by julz314



Series: Lockdown Drabble Stories [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: But I hope you'll like it anyways, College Tsukki, Lockdown Drabbles, M/M, Mentions of Iwazumi/Oikawa (past), Mentions of Tsukki with someone else (past), Nothing serious, Post-Timeskip, So much false information, Someone says the F word, Totally madeup tournament thing, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29098836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julz314/pseuds/julz314
Summary: Hajime Iwaizumi's back in Japan after studying abroad. Things are different, but his love for the sport remains. While attending a tournament he notices an old acquaintance from the volleyball world and when that person gets injured his athele trainer-self auto-reacts.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Lockdown Drabble Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2133228
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	A New Chapter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HimegimiWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HimegimiWrites/gifts).



> I need to point out that this is a new ship for me but this was fun to write... I wanted to write more but I also promised myself that these little challenges wouldn't be too long. Perhaps one day I'll write about them again....
> 
> (I really hope this is good enough!!!)
> 
> (Requested by HimegimiWrites )

Haijime Iwaizumi had missed this so much.

From the moment he stepped in the large gymnasium’s stands area he couldn’t help but to feel like he was walking down memory lane. Four volleyball courts had been set up for the regional tournament and teams were already warming up for their first matches of the day.

He had arrived from the States only a few days ago, and old friends had quickly found out about his return in Japan and so calls and messaged begging him to see them play had come in. Being the big softie at heart he had not been able to refuse. Hajime knew he would have to wait until the end of the day before meeting up with his old teammates but he was looking forward to seeing the progress of everyone since he had last played in high school.

It was a small regional unofficial tournament that teams competed in for practise. It was a nice way to see the competition for the upcoming tournaments and championship series and it was also a good time to try out new combinations and team plays. The end results and ranking in this tournament changed nothing to the real rankings, but teams still played with all of their heart for the bragging rights.

Hajime sat down at the end of court A, where the Tamaden Elephants – Kindaichi’s team – would be playing the Sendai Frogs – Kyotani’s team. Looking at both sides of the net Hajime saw both of his high school teammates and couldn’t help but to smile: both of them looked like professional players now and it gave him a great sense of pride to know that he had helped them somehow at loving the game.

He missed playing so much right now, and as he looked to his right and noticed the empty seats a sudden cold wave hit him throughout his whole body.

Watching games by himself wouldn’t be the same as back in the day…

The match began and he shook his head, trying his best to clear his mind. Looking at the starting lineup for the Sendai Frogs, he noticed an old face from back in the day and was rather surprised to see that tall blonde guy from Karasuno had continued playing volleyball after all these years. Hajime tried to remember the name of his old opponent, but old age was apparently winning him and his memory over.

 _Wow_. The guy had talent. He blocked everything in his path, including Kindaichi’s shots, without any effort. How much had the guy grown since they had last met? Even from up in the stands, blondie looked like he had transformed into a giant – a wall that could block anything.

Hajime wished he could be playing against him once again.

The match went on for a while and was clearly the preferred one for the crowd. Cheers followed the points scored from both sides which was fun to hear. While all sets were wildly disputed, Sendai clearly had the upper hand…

… or at least, until Hajime noticed a block from the ex-Karasuno – Tsukishima was written on the back of his shirt – that got the blonde to squirm a little.

The tall number 17 had jumped slightly sideways towards the block, and while he had been able to score yet another point for his team, his landing had been sort of off. Tsukishima received the cheers from his teammates and tried his best to hide away the pain he was feeling. Something was off, and Hajime’s instincts took over him. Waiting for match point to be scored and as Sendai celebrated their win the dark-haired athletic trainer’s instincts took over him and he headed towards the stairs near the locker rooms.

“Excuse me!” Hajime knocked on the door and waited politely for someone to open. He knew better than to just barge in but there was just something inside of him that wanted to push everyone aside and make sure the guy was okay.

One of the older team members opened the door. “Can I help you?”

Hajime bowed. “Oh err… yes! I was just wondering if anyone checked out your number 17’s injury?”

The tall player raised an eyebrow. “What, Tsukki? He’s not injured…”

Hajime wanted to push the dumb ass away from his face. “Make sure he ices up his left knee… That last block of his looked like it had a painful landing.”

Just as the player was about to push the door closed a hand appeared in front of Hajime’s face and he was surprised to see Tsukishima butting in.

“Iwaizumi-senpai… What are you doing here?”

 _Badum…_ What in the… “Hey blondie… I was just wondering if your leg was okay?”

A spark could been seen flashing in Tsukishima’s eyes, which meant that Hajime had seen right. “It’ll be okay, senpai. It’s just a sprain, I’m sure.”

“Wait…” the other Frog jumped in surprise. “You don’t mean you’re actually injured?”

Tsukishima sighed. “Look, I am okay. I promise. It just hurts a little but I know I can keep going. And you…” he turned his eyes at Hajime. “Don’t worry about this I just—”

“Like hell I won’t! I’m a professional athlete trainer, after all so please, at least let me give you a quick check up just in case. This is just a tournament for fun is it not?”

Just before Tsukishima could answer the other player raised his hand in protest. “Kei, he’s right. Better to be careful and be able to play during an official match.” It was his turn to look back at the trainer. “I’ll get you the first aid kit.”

Tsukishima sighed; Hajime cleared his throat and pretended that his blushed cheeks were because it was rather warm inside the locker room.

xXx

Some ice and a knee brace later the two of them had spent most of the Frogs’ next match in the locker room. The tall guy had come and checked up on them between sets and had asked Hajime to bring Tsukishima back to the university’s dorms. Blondie had began to protest but since he had no other plans (he could always text his old team mates later) he made tall-guy promise to text match updates to Tsukishima before they were on their way.

Tsukishima tried his best not to limp around and Hajime understood that the guy was trying to keep his pride intact. “You know, it’s okay to feel pain once in a while.”

Blondie was clearly pouting. “This is just so stupid, though.”

“Hey, come on now, anyone can do a misstep here and there. It’s just better for you to take care of it now than having to fuck up your leg because of your pride.”

There was a _Umpf_ sound and Hajime couldn’t help but chuckle. They got in the train and sat next to each other and soon enough they were on their way.

Hajime looked over Tsukishima’s shoulder and enjoyed the view outside. He had missed taking the train like this on a daily basis. There was a soft pain in his chest as he remembered that back when he used to take the train like this there had always been an annoying face with him and right now – and forevermore – moments like that would only be a momento of his teenage years.

“How Oikawa doing?”

 _Fuck._ The pain got sharper. “Sorry?”

Tsukishima had his headphones around his neck and was looking at this left leg. “Oikawa-senpai, how is he? You two used to be together all the time so I thought maybe…”  
  
 _Way to open old wounds, Blondie,_ Hajime sighed. “We haven’t spoken in over three years…”

Tsukishima gasped, his eyes turning towards Hajime. He did not speak.

Hajime let his head fall back. He suddenly felt defeated, but he knew there was no reason for him to hide this fact about him. “You see, volleyball was always number one for him. He’s been in South America ever since we graduated from high school. At first, we would find ways for me to go visit him but after a while I just… didn’t feel like I fit next to him, you know? I didn’t want to ruin his dreams nor be in the way of him achieving them and so we decided to go our own ways… I was already studying in the States but near the end of this whole… whatever we had… I just stopped traveling to Argentina, saved my money up as much as I could and once I managed to get my degree flew back here and that’s pretty much my life story, which was not really what you were asking about…”

The blonde guy shook his head. “Nah it’s okay. Sorry about it all, though.”

“It’s all good…” There was a moment as both guys turned to look at each other and then they both decided to look at the floor. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Tsukishima asked, confused.

Another awkward turn of the head to look at the blonde guy. “Well weren’t you with that other guy…? You know…”

Before Hajime could speak a name Tsukishima raised his right hand up. “Oh no… it was never anything serious… Just a school fling that ended up with me being alone. Nothing major.”

“Ah…” Silence between the two grew all the way until they reached Tsukishima’s stop. Hajime made sure to walk by his side the whole way until they reached the university grounds. They didn’t talk the whole way there; Hajime clearly concentrating on any physical signs of straining from his patient. He knew once they reached the dorms that Blondie would be fine, but it annoyed him to know that he would have to say his goodbyes soon.

_Why did that annoy him, though?_

“Well, this is my place. Thanks again for coming all the way here with me. I promise not to attempt any major gymnastic moves until the tournament.”

Hajime laughed. “All good, then. I’m glad I could help. If you need anything just…” What was he expecting, actually? “I mean…”

Tsukishima grabbed his cellphone from his jacket. “Want to share contact info? You know, to check up on my status and you know maybe… get a coffee someday? To catch up on old times, and as a thank you for your free help today.”

“Sure!” Hajime reacted without thinking much more than that and soon enough he had Tsukishima’s info in his phone. “And I would like that coffee sometime… it sure would feel nice to have a new friend around town.”

Tsukishima smiled and something inside Hajime made the butterflies dance.

“It’s a date, then.”


End file.
